Interview Filter

KYPCK (E. SEPPÄNEN)

HOW ARE YOU? WHO ARE YOU? WHERE ARE YOU? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE 10 MIN. AGO? 😉
I’m really well, thanks. My name is Eki from the band KYPCK, I’m at home and I just had sex with a beautiful girl.
CONGRATULATIONS TO A GREAT ALBUM. YOU MUST BE VERY SATISFIED WITH THE RESULT AND THE REACTIONS SO FAR!
Thank you very much. Yes, I am very happy with the album, the way we managed to make our concept into a reality. It’s a result of hard work and obviously it feels good to get some recognition. Thanks to all the fans who liked the album!
MOST PEOPLE MIGHT KNOW KYPCK TO BE THE NEW BAND OF FORMER SENTENCED-GUITARIST SAMI IN THE FIRST PLACE, SO PLEASE INTRODUCE THE WHOLE BAND AND HOW YOU GUYS GOT TOGETHER.
We have me, E. Seppänen in the vocals, S.S. Lopakka on the guitar, J.T. Ylä-Rautio on the bass and K.H.M. Hiilesmaa in the drums. Hiilesmaa and Ylä-Rautio have played together in a punk-band called THE SKREPPERS and that’s how they know each other. Lopakka and Hiilesmaa obviously worked together on the SENTENCED-albums. And I came into the picture through our label, as the guys were searching for a Russian-singing vocalist. My other band, Tuiran Miliisi, was on the same label. When we play live, we also have S. Kukkohovi, the former bassist of SENTENCED. And we look great together, heh!
THE WHOLE CONCEPT OF THE BAND DEALS WITH RUSSIA. WHO CAME UP WITH THIS IDEA? ANY PERSONAL RELATION TO RUSSIA? (SOME PEOPLE SAY FINLAND IS MORE RELATED TO RUSSIA THAN TO THEIR NEIGHBOURS IN SCANDINAVIA…)
The original idea for KYPCK was Lopakka’s, he liked the way Russian sounded in this kind of slow, depressing music. On the other hand, I had been working with my own Russia-related musical projects, which is how the others found out about me, so I was very happy to join and do a whole album in Russia. As for the relationships with Russia, I’ve lived and studied there for 2,5 yrs and studied the country and its culture for about ten years. Hiilesmaa’s great-grandfather was from St. Petersburg, and the song “1917” is about his story. And yes, there are a lot of similarities between the Russian & Finnish mentality…
RUSSIA HAS SO MUCH TO OFFER IN HISTORY, WHY DID YOU CHOOSE “KURSK”?
I presume you mean the band’s name, KYPCK? Well, it’s short, it’s strong & masculine. It’s got a lot of associations with Russian history, as it’s one of the oldest towns in Russia, older than Moscow, for example. So, the name has a lot of depth. And it is also well-known to people in the West, because of the submarine-tragedy.
YOU DECIDED TO USE RUSSIAN LYRICS BEFORE YOU EVEN HAD A VOCALIST. HOW WAS THE PLAN TO FIND A PROPER SINGER. FOR SURE NOT AN EASY THING AT FIRST SIGHT… WAS THERE A PLAN B IN CASE OF NOT FINDING THE RIGHT MAN FOR THE JOB?
There wasn’t really any plans, I think… After the decision was made, the guys found me in about a week, through the Finnish label UHO, with which we all were affiliated. I don’t know what they would have done next… Perhaps put an ad in a Russian newspaper…?
ALTHOUGH THE IDEA TO FORM KYPCK CAME UP IN 1999, HOW DIFFICULT WAS IT FOR SAMI TO GET SENTENCED OUT OF HIS MIND AND TO CONCENTRATE ON A NEW BAND?
I talked about it a little when I joined the band. I think in the end it was quite easy for him, actually. SENTENCED had come to the end of its circle. He told me that he hadn’t even touched his guitar after the last show of SENTENCED. As a matter of fact, he had left his gear at Teatria and it was there still. He didn’t even bother to bring it home! But when we started KYPCK, he was immediately into it and very excited! To be honest, I was a bit worried at first, you know, was it going to be just like a side-project to him… But he assured me that he’s in this 100% and that he’s just as excited about KYPCK as when SENTENCED made their first album.
FOR US, RUSSIA SOUNDS LIKE A COMPLICATED LANGUAGE (OK, FINNISH FOR US AS WELL 😉 ). WAS IT DIFFICULT TO ARRANGE THE MUSIC WITH THE LYRICS?
Well, that was my job, wasn’t it? Except for the two songs I wrote (“Predatel” and “Ne Prosti”), I got the ready songs from the guys and wrote the vocals on top. In my own songs, I usually start working straight from the vocals. Heh! It was, of course, a bit of a new challenge for me to start writing in Russian. I mean, I do write it ok, and I write lyrics in Finnish and in English. But it was a new experience. The beginning was hard and, of course, I don’t write it exactly like a native would, but I’m happy with the end result. It’s something new, a new approach even for Russians.
“CHRISTMAS IN MURMANSK”, “1917” AND “ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF YEGOR KUZNETSOV” ARE NOT JUST GREAT SONGS, BUT ALSO INTERESTING TITLES. WHAT ARE THE LYRICS ABOUT AND WHO IS KUZNETOV?
“1917” is about Hiilesmaa’s great-grandfather, who worked in the militia of St. Petersburg before the revolution. When the Bolsheviks came into power, he escaped with his family to Finland. Soon after he left for America, to try and support his wife and children, and for some time he sent checks back home, and letters, too. But then he suddenly disappeared there. And no one knows what happened… The two other songs are more personal, they are about my experiences while living in Russia. You’ll find out more when you read the translations from the CD booklet. As for Yegor, I’m afraid I can’t talk much, as he doesn’t want any more publicity…
YOU CHOSE “1917” FOR A DOWNLOAD-SINGLE AND AN INTENSE VIDEO. WHY A DOWNLOAD-SINGLE AND WHO CAME WITH THE IDEA FOR THAT CLIP. IT DOES NOT DEAL WITH THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION?(“1917”)
Nobody seems to buy CD singles anymore, at least in Finland, so we made it a download version. Personally, I feel it’s a shame… This whole MP3 thing, because I love albums, I love owning them and buying them, but hey… It’s the 21st century now! The video itself is the directors vision about a possible version of what happened to the main protagonist of the song. As I mentioned before, it’s about Hiilesmaa’s grandfather. It’s obvious fiction, based in a pseudo-Sovjiet reality. Only a fool would judge it realistic. But it works.
SAMI HAS A SPECIAL AK47-GUITAR? COOL IDEA, BUT SEEMS DIFFICULT TO REALIZE? ( I THINK IT WAS A REAL AK47?) HOW DIFFERENT/ DIFFICULT IS IT TO USE?
Yes, it’s crafted from the real thing, but it feels really good. He said it’s by far the best guitar he has ever had…
J.T. USES A ONE STRING-BASS. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO CREATE SUCH AN INTENSE SOUND WITH JUST ONE STRING?
That’s the mastery of Jaska and Hiili working together with sound… I’m not sure exactly, but he uses a Big Muff –pedal on it… And of course the whole bass has its own unique & horrible sound to it!
IN SOME PARTS IN YOUR SONGS I CAN HEAR A LITTLE INFLUENCE OF BLACK SABBATH. ARE THEY AND WHO ELSE IS AN INFLUENCE FOR YOUR MUSIC?
It’s hard to say from my perspective, but me and Sami both like TYPE O NEGATIVE, so that might be here and there… It’s interesting that you said Black Sabbath, but I wouldn’t go that far. We don’t have that UK sound or the faster, rock-bits in there. Maybe on a subconscious level it’s there, in the vocal interpretation, I don’t know. It’s up for the listener to decide.
YOU ALREADY PLAYED SEVERAL FESTIVAL-GIGS SO FAR. HOW WHERE THE REACTIONS? ANY ONE WHO FINDS YOUR CONCEPT, OUTFIT, IMAGE KIND OF PROVOKING?
I hope we piss a lot of people off, heh! And I think we already do… But I’m used to doing that in Finland. It’s a bit too easy here, as people can be quite narrow-minded. All of our imagery and the things you referred to come from the music and work together with it. But I think as soon as you’ve seen how cool we look, you should forget about it and listen to how cool we sound. Anyway, the festivals were great and we got lots of new friends. This band is nevertheless a great live band, no doubt about that.
WHAT KIND OF REACTIONS ABOUT YOUR APPEARANCE DO YOU EXPECT (CONCERNING THE ALBUM AND LIVE-SHOWS).
Hmm… I suppose we expected confusion and disbelief… And we faced some confusion and disbelief, heh! But we also rocked the balls off of the people who turned up to the show. And the songs, even though they are so slow, they really rock!
YOU RELEASED SING-A-LONG-VERSIONS OF YOUR LYRICS. MUST BE INTERESTING TO HEAR PEOPLE SINGING ALONG IN A LANGUAGE THEY MIGHT NOT EVEN UNDERSTAND?
Well, it happens a lot in English and in German, too… Not all people know languages so well. But yes, it’s nice for those who like the songs so much that they want to learn how to sing along… Luckily we also have Russians coming to the shows!
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS CONCERNING TOURING AND MAYBE MORE CLIPS? (ESPECIALLY A TOUR IN RUSSIA SHOULD BE INTERESTING).
We have our first shows in Russia in November and were waiting for offers from the rest of Europe. We shall see what happens… But yes, we have reserved October and November for touring. No plans yet for another clip, though… Unless Century wants to do one more…
ALREADY PLANS FOR NEW SONGS? ALTHOUGH RUSSIA HAS ENOUGH STORIES TO WRITE ABOUT, DO YOU FEEL ANY LIMITATIONS CONCERNING IDEAS THAT MIGHT NOT FIT IN KYPCK IN FIRST SIGHT?
Yes, I’m working on some new material, but slowly. Sami also has a few new ideas hanging about, but we’re not going to dive into them until we’ve properly finished promoting “Cherno”. We have plans to go back into the studio in January 2009. There are always limitations, I guess, when you have a strong concept like we do. But like you said, there are plenty of stories yet to be told about Russia! And of course I always write about personal stuff, too… I mean, I’m a writer in general and I need to unload some of my own pain in the lyrics as well!
ALTHOUGH THE FUNERAL OF SENTENCED ISN’T THAT LONG AGO, FANS ARE ALREADY HOPING FOR A REUNION SOMEDAY (OF COURSE AT WACKEN 😉 ). ANY THOUGHTS ABOUT THAT OR NOT A SECOND AT ALL 😉 ?
Many have asked that… And still more have asked me to ask Sami… And the answer has never changed.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND THE LAST WORDS ARE YOURS FOR YOUR GERMAN AUDIENCE
Danke schön! I really hope to see you at our concert! Auf Wiedersehen!